! Twenty Pinkerton men are here from New York
City, an' you can't escape! Throw up your hands!"

"The damned old fool is in earnest," gasped Judge Brewster, from across
the river.

"He's crazy!" cried Congressman Bonner.

"Let everybody in this crowd throw up their hands!" called a firm, clear
voice from the entrance. At the same instant five bewhiskered
individuals appeared as if by magic with drawn revolvers, dominating the
situation completely. The speaker was Andrew Gregory, the insurance
agent.

"Now, what have you got to say?" cried Anderson gaily. "I guess me an'
the detectives have you cornered all right, ain't we?"

The audience sat stupefied, paralysed. While all this was going on upon
the inside, a single detective on the outside was stealthily puncturing
the tires of every automobile in the collection, Mr. Bracken's huge
touring car being excepted for reasons to be seen later on.

"Good heavens!" groaned old Judge Brewster. A half dozen women fainted
and a hundred men broke into a cold perspiration.

"Hands up, everybody!" commanded Andrew Gregory. "We can take no
chances. The train robbers are in this audience. They came to hold up
the entire crowd, but we are too quick for you, my fine birds. The place
is surrounded!"

"Mr. Gregory, the insurance--" began Anderson Crow, but he was cut
short.

"Mr. Crow deserves great credit for this piece of detective work. His
mere presence is a guaranty of safety to those of you who are not
thieves. You all have your hands up? Thanks. Mr. Crow, please keep those
actors quiet. Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is not always an easy matter
to distinguish thieves from honest men. I will first give the
desperadoes a chance to surrender peaceably. No one steps forward? Very
well. Keep your hands up, all of you. The man who lowers his hands will
be instantly regarded as a desperado and may get a bullet in his body
for his folly. The innocent must suffer with the guilty. Mr. Crow, shall
we proceed with the search?"

"Yes, sir; go right ahead, and be quick," replied Anderson Crow.

"Very well, then, in the name of the law, my men will begin the search.
They will pass among you, ladies and gentlemen, and any effort to retard
their progress will be met with instant--well, you know."

Before the petrified audience could fully realise what was taking place,
three of the detectives were swiftly passing from person to person,
stripping the women of their jewels, the men of